


You're Gone (And I Gotta Stay)

by LadyMerlin



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Cecil and Dana are BFFs, Cecil is Innocent, Coda to The Retirement of Pamela Winchell, Come Home Carlos, Dana is a Good Friend, Dana's POV, Implied Emotional Infidelity, Loneliness, M/M, and Carlos is Not There, implied depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 13:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMerlin/pseuds/LadyMerlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil's been so lonely since Carlos has been gone. Dana can hear it in his voice. Then Earl Harlan invites Cecil to dinner at Tourniquet one night, and Dana's left to answer Carlos' phone call, when it comes, and Cecil isn't home to answer. </p><p>There is nothing about this scenario that she likes, but she really doesn't know what she can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Gone (And I Gotta Stay)

**Author's Note:**

> Well. TPTB have chosen Earl Harlan’s voice. My worst nightmares are coming true. 
> 
> This is set after The Retirement of Pamela Winchell (ep.52) and Cold Comfort, a fic I haven’t yet published, set in either episode 50 or 51. 
> 
> Inspired a little bit by the song Habits, by Tove Lo. You should totally listen to it for an insight on how Cecil's probably feeling.

It took her a while to realise, but Cecil sounded happier than she’d heard him in days. She was the Mayor, and she had a _lot_ more work to do than when she’d been interning at the Radio Station. But pretty much everyone listened to Cecil’s show, regardless of how much work they had, or how busy they were. She was pretty sure it was Council Mandated Rule; that everyone had to listen to his show or something. She wouldn’t have missed it unless the world was on fire, and even then, she’d have though twice.

And because she’d been listening to his show religiously, Dana hadn’t been deaf to the tones in Cecil’s voice that spoke of loneliness and heartbreak, ever since Carlos had been trapped in that Other Place. Even though he’d never said anything on his show, and never would, she could tell that something inside him was dying, every day Carlos was gone, and the worst part was that she didn’t know how to help.

So when she accepted his invitation to his house for drinks and a chat, she’d been hoping to get a chance to subtly check up on him, to see if he needed a shoulder to lean on, for once, instead of being the one to support everyone.

But when she got to his house, it was like a switch had been flipped. She’d heard the show, like everyone else in town, and she’d been as concerned as anyone about the lack of mention of Carlos in the show. She’d been planning on asking if he’d got any good news from Carlos, but the grin he’d greeted her with had stolen all the words from her mouth.

Cecil had never really complained about Carlos’ absence _per se_ , but it wasn’t like anyone was going to forget his hero scientist boyfriend. And it wasn’t like Cecil was the only one missing him. The scientist had wormed his way into the hearts of most Night Vale citizens, and he’d become part of their landscape as much as the bright lights above Arby’s, the Brown Stone Spire, and the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex.

They chatted for a while and she waited for him to just say whatever he was itching to say, because he could hardly contain his words, and he was going to tell her anyway. There was no point in pushing him if he wasn’t ready. Even though she was dreading hearing it, whatever _it_ was. And eventually, he did. “You know Dana, I met Earl Harlan the other day.” Cecil was unnaturally excited for a sentence so mundane. She’d been hoping for news involving Carlos, not… _Earl_ , of all people.

“Yeah,” she replied, despite her disappointment, because she had known that. She’d been listening to his show, like every other person in town. “At Tourniquet, right?” she asked, to show she’d been listening. That was something Carlos had taught her while she’d been trapped in the Other Place with him. He’d wanted to impress Cecil so much, that he’d been reading up on casual conversational topics, so he didn’t bore his boyfriend with science.

She’d wanted to tell him that Cecil was so _gone_ , that even if Carlos had spoken about nothing _but_ science, Cecil would still have looked at him as if he’d hung the moon. But she hadn’t known him that well, then, and she hadn’t said anything further about it.

Cecil beamed, so she must have done something right. “Yeah. He works there, now. I hadn’t met him in such a long time! It must have been, what, ten years?” and yeah, it probably had been. Because _everyone_ remembered the fight they’d had right after they’d graduated high-school, when they’d promised they’d never speak to each other again, even though they were supposed to have roomed together in College.

She’d been all of ten years old, back then, and her memories were mostly of what she’d heard her mother saying, so it wasn’t like she knew the details. But there had been a fight, and an oath of animosity, and no one had expected them to ever stand in the same room again, let alone speak civilly, or act like friends.

But Cecil looked like he was alive again, talking about being in school with Harlan, about the good old days when they’d been best friends. Dana felt concern stir in her belly, even though she wasn’t sure why she was worried. She’d learned, though, that it was generally a good idea to listen to her gut instinct, so she didn’t say anything, and listened carefully.

“I can trust you to keep a secret, right?” Cecil asked, and it was a rhetorical question, because _duh_. He seemed to recognize it as such, and continued before she could answer. “Yes, right. Earl invited me to Tourniquet this weekend, so I can sample the new menu, and still get a friends-and-family discount! He says it’ll be great publicity for his restaurant if I can review it on my show, and he’d love to get me a reservation!”

The simmering worry started churning in her gut, and she smiled. “That’s great, Cecil! It sounds like a really nice restaurant!”

“Oh, it is,” Cecil replied, beaming at her response and clearly not noticing the tension in her shoulders. “I could tell from the atmosphere, Dana. It was so fancy, and the food smelled amazing and it didn’t even look like they had a vermin problem!” Dana was impressed despite herself, because it was hard for restaurants and food manufacturers in Night Vale to avoid vermin, which demanded obscene bribes in exchange for protection from certain types of helicopters.

But she tamped down on it. Because Cecil loved Carlos, and Carlos loved Cecil, but they were both blind. And Cecil didn’t remember that he and Earl had fought for a reason, and he couldn’t see that Earl was asking him out on something much more significant than a simple tasting session. And Carlos couldn’t see at all, because he wasn’t there.

“I’m so excited, Dana! Will you help me pick out something to wear?” It even sounded like first-date excitement, and it made her so very uneasy. Because as much as she loved Cecil as a brother, Carlos was her friend too, and they’d bonded during their time in that Other Place.

“’Course I will, Cecil.” And he didn’t notice if she wasn’t as excited as he was, but it was probably a good thing, because she wasn’t sure how she’d explain why.

“The only thing is that he’s invited me out at 8 pm.” And Dana knew without having to be told that Cecil wouldn’t be back in time for Carlos’ daily phone call. “And Carlos won’t mind, I know he won’t,” Cecil continued, oblivious to Dana’s sinking heart. “So I was just wondering if you’d speak to him for me?”

“Who?” she asked, “Carlos or Earl?”

Cecil scoffed. “Carlos, of course. Earl’s a busy guy. He’s only got one slot where he can squeeze me in, and also get a chance to have dinner with me. It’ll be nice to catch up.” Dana uncharitably wondered how much of Earl’s excuse had to do with his duties at the restaurant, and how much it had to do with the fact that everyone in town knew Carlos called Cecil at 8:30 pm every night.

“You’d think that in such a small town we’d know what’s been up with the other, but gosh, it’s really been such a long time!” Cecil gushed, and it was unsettlingly similar to the gushing they’d all endured years ago, when Carlos first moved to town. There was nothing about this Dana liked, but there was also nothing she could do.

So she sat, and listened, and nodded at all the appropriate bits and sipped her orange milk. And she waited, because there was nothing else she could do.

And the following Tuesday, when Cecil went to Tourniquet to meet Earl Harlan, dressed in his most colourful tunic and his best furry pants, she sat on her couch with Cecil’s cell phone in her lap, and waited.

And when the clock hit 8:30, she answered the ringing phone with a heavy heart and a gut full of dread. “Carlos, you need to come home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written really fast so I could post it up before ep.53 was released, so forgive any mistakes or awkward turns of phrase. I've had this idea since the last episode came out, but I wasn't able to write it in advance.


End file.
